Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo pleading over a foul call in the first half against Michigan on March 3, 2013. / Julian H. Gonzalez / DFP

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Tom Izzo talked about it a few times this season, even when the Spartans were starting to play like a Final Four contender around late January and early February.

“Can’t let one loss turn into three,” he said, and now it has after a disheartening 58-57 loss at U-M that shouldn’t have been as close as it was at halftime (MSU should have been up more) and probably shouldn’t have been as close as it was at the end (U-M was one basket away from making the last four minutes garbage time), but ended with Trey Burke playing hero at Keith Appling’s expense.

So now that one has become three, what does it mean for the rest of this season? It means the Big Ten title hopes, while still faintly alive (Indiana has to lose to Ohio State on Tuesday and at U-M on Sunday for a share to be possible), are pretty much shot. It means a Big Ten Tournament first-day bye and NCAA Tournament spot at The Palace are in question, though MSU can take care of the first and greatly aid the second by finishing up with home wins over Wisconsin and Northwestern.

It means Appling faces yet another emotional recovery. Appling was impressive after the game, even as his voice broke up a few times answering questions. He answered them all, many of the same ones, over and over again. He was actually impressive for much of the game, too, other than the outside shot that continues to rattle out.

He pushed the ball hard during the late comeback from the 10-point deficit, finding Gary Harris for a critical three. He hit the clutch, tying free throws. He slid to the baseline and forced the late U-M turnover. He got to the basket a couple times and had five assists and just two of MSU’s 18 turnovers. He guarded Burke well for most of the day. But he gave up that steal, a fraction of a second of relaxing as Burke shot for the ball, and he acknowledged it will be tough to get past that.

“It’s very disappointing and frustrating,” Appling said. “Not only (because of how we lost), but this is our rival. This is one of the teams I hate losing to.”

MSU still had a chance at the end and the final play was disjointed from the start. Izzo said “a freshman” ran the play wrong, presumably Gary Harris and not Denzel Valentine, though both were on the floor. Appling inbounded to Harris and broke for the corner. Harris had him open for a moment but ended up throwing it to Burke, who was caught between them. Harris said afterward he was supposed to shoot or hit Appling in the corner.

I get putting the ball in Harris’ hands on the inbound, because you ensure he has the ball and will take a shot if he has one. The way Appling has been shooting, I don’t think I’d want him taking a corner three down a point, but I guess it’s not a bad second option. I just don’t know what was supposed to happen at the beginning of the play, but it wasn’t pretty.

And that’s true for much of the first three-game losing streak in one season for MSU since the nightmare season of 2010-11. This streak must be taken for what it is – three losses against three very good, ranked teams, two on the road. Still, it is troubling for the Spartans because in all three losses, MSU stumbled late. This after spending much of this season playing pedestrian basketball for stretches but making key plays at winning time.

The Spartans coughed up a four-point lead to Indiana on defense and at the line. They gave up a layup, then had a bad turnover, after getting within a basket of Ohio State. And then came Crisler Center and the game that was nearly stolen before U-M stole it back.

Now it’s simply about winning two games, doing as much as possible in Chicago and trying to get things figured out before the big one. Today was still a step forward for Appling, as long as he can put the finish behind him. Harris and Adreian Payne continue to play at a high level. Branden Dawson did not have much impact in Ann Arbor, and Derrick Nix had his worst game in a while and the most turnovers of his career.

“We’re playing in spurts,” Payne said, “and if you want to be a great team, you can’t do that.”

The Spartans certainly want to be great and, yeah, they have the pieces. But this is a month for teams that figure out how to get everything working together, and it did not start well in that regard for Michigan State.

Contact Joe Rexrode: 313-222-2625 or jrexrode@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @joerexrode. Check out his MSU blog at freep.com/heyjoe.